Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 861
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 18, 2004, 7:10 PM CDT for 14 counties in Alabama; 21 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 18, 2004, 7:10 PM CDT (00:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 18, 2004, 11:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 35 counties
Colbert County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Marion County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lee County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Union County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS
The radar
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:12 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
Warnings issued inside it
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 7:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Monroe | 50 min |
| Oct 18, 7:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Clay | 14 min |
| Oct 18, 7:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Pontotoc, Union | 41 min |
| Oct 18, 8:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Monroe | 48 min |
| Oct 18, 8:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lee, Prentiss, Union | 31 min |
| Oct 18, 8:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 47 min |
| Oct 18, 9:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Prentiss | 49 min |
| Oct 18, 9:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Tishomingo | 51 min |
| Oct 18, 9:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Colbert, Franklin | 50 min |
| Oct 18, 10:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Colbert, Franklin | 45 min |
| Oct 18, 10:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Colbert | 47 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 170 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 142 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -60 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1009 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 271 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 388 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 2.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 190009
SEL1
SPC WW 190010
ALZ000-MSZ000-190400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 861
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
710 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
WESTERN ALABAMA
EASTERN MISSISSIPPI
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY EVENING FROM 710 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF MUSCLE SHOALS ALABAMA TO
65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 857...WW 858...WW 859...WW
860...
DISCUSSION...STORMS HAVE INCREASED ALONG WARM ADVECTION AXIS FORM
WEST OF MEI TO NEAR TUP. STORMS ARE MOVING INTO AN AREA OF STRONGER
LOW LEVEL SHEAR AND A MOIST ENVIRONMENT THAT IS FAVORABLE FOR LARGE
HAIL AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030.
...IMY
345,0871 323,0872 323,0892 345,0891SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 10:33 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Limestone | 117 min |
| Oct 18, 10:55 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 1 more | 5 hr |
| Oct 19, 2:04 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more | 86 min |
| Oct 19, 3:34 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 4 more | 26 min |
| Oct 19, 3:50 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin and 9 more | 4 hr |
| Oct 19, 7:08 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson and 6 more | 2 hr |
| Oct 19, 9:05 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Clay and 20 more | 7 hr |
| Oct 19, 11:06 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 10 more | 84 min |
| Oct 19, 12:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee and 16 more | 7 hr |
| Oct 19, 1:15 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Clay and 20 more | 90 min |
| Oct 19, 3:08 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 43 more | 67 min |
| Oct 19, 3:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Dallas and 16 more | 6 hr |
| Oct 19, 5:48 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 13 more | 117 min |
| Oct 19, 6:20 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 16 more | 4 hr |
| Oct 18, 9:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alcorn, Benton | 2 hr |
| Oct 19, 1:35 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Franklin, Hancock, Issaquena, Jefferson and 3 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2004Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2004Every tornado watch in 2004
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.